“We kicked lumps out of each other,” says Wilson. “I’ve got scars all over my head, two artificial hips, dislocated fingers, broken ribs, torn cartilage, dislocated shoulder, a broken elbow - but the one thing that made me stand out was the ability to dive head first at an attacker’s feet. It was my trademark......................................“What drives me demented is we have one of the best young players and, if we aren’t careful, football will lose him by the time he is 24 or 25 because Bukayo Saka will have been kicked out of the game,” says Wilson.

“Referees don’t seem to see or understand it. There are always a minimum of two players within five yards of Saka and often a third. If they can’t stop him, they kick him.

“People say, ‘What do you mean? That’s too dramatic’. I say there has not been a more kicked player in the Premier League than Bukayo Saka. If he is facing in an attacking position, and he is taking them on, that is the time I worry. I really worry for Bukayo.”

Ferguson had shown similar empathy after Anna died in 1998, midway through Manchester United’s treble-winning season and a period when the rivalry with Arsenal – for whom Wilson was the goalkeeping coach – was at its zenith.

“Three nights after Anna died, the phone rang. ‘Hiya Bob, it’s Alex’. I was, ‘Alex??’ He was, ‘Yeah, Alex Ferguson’. He spoke to me, said, ‘You sound as if you are holding up but where’s Megs?’ He then spoke to her for 20 minutes. I’ll never forget that.”

A typical day in the 1980s and 1990s went something like this: Alarm at 3.20am. In the BBC studio for 4.30am. On air at 6.30am for the first of three sports bulletins that he anchored for many years alongside another great friend in Jill Dando.

It was then away just after 8.30am. Arrive at Arsenal’s training ground for 9.15am. Train the goalkeepers before afternoons spent preparing or interviewing for Football Focus and Grandstand ahead of an evening match either in his capacity as a television presenter or an Arsenal coach.

For all this time on television, Wilson was also Arsenal’s goalkeeper coach. His opening gambit when Jennings arrived from Tottenham in 1977 was simply, “Pat, I can’t teach you anything about goalkeeping – I’ve idolised you – but I’m here to help”.

He was the first specialist goalkeeping coach at any club and it would be an entirely voluntary position until Wenger personally insisted that Wilson be paid for his work.

“My heroes are two guys I never knew,” he says, pointing. “My brothers Jock and Billy. I was four months old when Jock was shot down and killed in his Spitfire. He was head boy at his school. And I was two when Billy died as rear gunner in his Lancaster.

“My mother was so proud of them. Ultimately Hitler and that regime were booted out, and it was thanks to hundreds of thousands of guys like Jock and Billy. Nineteen-years-old, and they’re lives were over. They will always be my heroes. Whatever I do will never come near what those guys did.”

Quite hectic without many days rest between fixtures. Makes Easter Sunday a must win just for momentum sake.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/03/25/bob-wilson-interview-arsenal-sir-alex-ferguson-brilliant/

Behind a paywall so I'll put some chunks........................













It really is worth a read if you can.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/03/25/bob-wilson-interview-arsenal-sir-alex-ferguson-brilliant/

Behind a paywall ...

Quite hectic without many days rest between fixtures. Makes Easter Sunday a must win just for momentum sake.

Yeah. A draw would be a great result obviously but one feels not enough. If we're full strength we should be aiming to win and I'm sure that would be Arteta's mindset.

Let's hope the reported injuries to Gabriel and Saka aren't anything major and Martinelli is back

Spurs play Newcastle away on April 13th and don't play again until they play us on April 28th - a 15 day break.
Between those 2 games for Spurs we'll play 4 matches, Villa, Bayern, Wolves, Chelsea - that's a crazy swing in terms of rest and matches even given that we're still in europe and they never were in the first place!
You could argue that if we're winning those games then the momentum of just playing games will suit us better than the 2 week rest Spurs have.....but Spurs will be loving that they have 2 weeks to prepare for us and we'll have 4 days to prepare for them

According to rumors John Stone and Kyle Walker are out for the match.

Sky sports have done a piece where they question the injuries Arsenal players had in the international break, Saka being the main one, and their legitimacy ahead of the City game. No mention of City having 8 players they either withdrew from international games through injury or came of early in games due to injury. Ederson, Dias, Bernardo, stones, Walker, de Bruyne, haaland and Akanji. Let’s see how many of those make the squad for Sunday.

I’ll believe it when I see it and would advise taking it with a large pinch of salt.

Actually having an internal debate with myself …..